XVIII amžiaus studijos / The Eighteenth Century Studies

The article discusses a watercolour painting from a private collection authored by Wojciech Iwaszkiewicz, artillery ober-bombardier of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the background of the urban landscape are objects that allow easy identification of the capital of Lithuania: partly ruined Upper Castle and the Bekesh Hill. Other objects and figures are identifiable by the inscriptions on the other side of the painting. Particularly interesting is the first plan of the drawing, which depicts the Tatar Gates and a few wooden houses standing near them. This is the only known view of the Tatar Gates of the Vilnius defensive wall. The buildings also depict a number of city dwellers, most of them being military personnel of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (artillery officer, cannoneer, ober-feurwerker, etc., as well as the author of the painting himself ), thus the picture is also interesting as a source of research into different military uniforms. Inscriptions by the Upper Castle and Bekesh Hill reflect legends and stories, popular among Vilnians at the end of the eighteenth century. In the former case, one tower of the castle is named as the temple of the pagan god Lelum Polelum Swistum po Swistum. Yet above the Bekesh Hill is written a legend about the reckless death of this cadet on the way down while riding a horse. Through historical sources we were able to determine that W. Iwaszkiewicz enlisted into the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a cannoneer in the spring of 1790, soon was raised to the rank of the bombardier and in the spring of 1791 to the ober-bombardier, yet in the summer of 1793 he was raised to the rank of stykjunker. The painting in analysis is related to a particular event: attempts to reform and strengthen the Lithuanian artillery at the end of the eighteenth century and the amassing of the military in Vilnius. In spite of somewhat primitive style of the painting, it’s a very interesting and valuable document of urban iconography.

The article is dedicated to present, still unexplored in Lithuanian historiography, works of the late eighteenth-century writer Wincenty Ignacy Marewicz and to discuss his reflections on his living times. Marewicz (1755–1822) was a poor nobleman, born in Trakai powiat and, having studied there, he later spent in Vilnius a significant portion of his life, trying to survive off his literary activities. He dedicated his works to the nobles, hoping to receive their protection and support, which he also published and distributed on his own. Creative legacy of Marewicz is ample and omnidirectional, however his contemporaries considered him a secondary writer and even graphomaniac, thus he was forgotten by the following generations and was little researched. In spite of any doubts regarding literary skills of Marewicz, we can notice that his writings, often very personal, may be interesting to a historian because of the reflections about himself and his living times. Being avid supporter of state reforms and the Four-Year Sejm, Marewicz in the last years of the eighteenth century wrote pieces that were filled with patriotic spirit, full of contemplations on the destiny of his homeland and of advice to the powerful regarding governance of the country. Writings of the litterateur were close to sentimentalism, with the accentuated desire for authenticity and naturalness. Marewicz promoted ideas of egalitarianism and solidarity of society, criticising the predominant types of relationships. The article discusses works created by the litterateur in the last decade of the century, such as drama, political poetry, biographical narratives dedicated to the nobility and decorations designed for the anniversary of the May 3rd Constitution.

The article presents personality and activities of Augustyn Middleton, nobleman from Kaunas powiat, with the main focus on assessing this person in the light of political events in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the geopolitical situation. At the centre of this research is the period from the reinstatement of the diplomatic mission of the Commonwealth in The Hague on 14 April 1790 to the end of activities of the Four-Year Sejm. The article reveals that Augustyn Middleton, assigned by Stanislaw August to the diplomatic mission of the Commonwealth in the United Provinces of the Netherlands, was the agent of the King, who had to inform the King’s cabinet on activities of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Mihał Kleofas Ogiński and to promote the reforms by the Four-Year Sejm in the foreign press thus shaping a positive public opinion in Western Europe regarding changes in Poland and Lithuania. Due to benevolent circumstances A. Middleton was able to reach the rank of embassy resident, however the horizons of his diplomatic career were limited by available finances. Political views of A. Middleton reflected aims declared by the fraction of Stanislaw August’s court: to create a strong and prospering monarchy, hoping that the state will be able to regain its glorious past. A. Middleton promoted constitutional monarchy, inheritable throne, regulation of activities of the Sejm and the dietines (sejmiki), granting of political rights to townspeople, and economic development of the country. While supporting the idea of a centralized state, A. Middleton did not reflect on the rights of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania or the topic of a binary state. In assessing economic changes in Europe A. Middleton opposed the physiocrats, emphasizing that the most powerful form of capital comes not from agriculture but from banking. However, he was not afraid to admit that his knowledge of economics was not sufficient to explain the processes of financial capital. Ideas of religious tolerance, promoted by A. Middleton, his cosmopolite view of collaboration between states and nations, active interest in political and social transformations in Europe through anonymous polemical publications in foreign press on the topics of revolution allow for bringing the nobleman from Kaunas powiat A. Middleton into the circle of yet unknown people of the Enlightenment.

Jono III Sobieskio valdymo laikotarpiu Sapiegos įgijo reikšmingą įtaką Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje. Istoriografijoje netgi akcentuojama šios giminės hegemonija. Jono III Sobieskio pastangos sutelkti opoziciją Sapiegoms rezultatų davė tik po valdovo mirties, kada vidutinės bajorijos atstovai, diskretiškai remiami Sapiegų įtaką palaužti siekiančių didikų, iškėlė teisių sulyginimo (vadinamosios koekvacijos) programą ir siekė šią programą įgyvendinti. Būtent šios bajorijos grupuotės pasisakė už Vetinų dinastijos atstovo išrinkimą į Abiejų Tautų Respublikos sostą, tikėdamosi, kad tai pakeis vidaus situaciją Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje. Ir jos nesuklydo: Sapiegų pozicijos susilpnėjo. Iš naujojo Abiejų Tautų Respublikos valdovo Augusto II buvo tikimasi paramos vadinamųjų respublikonų grupuotei, tačiau Augustas II, oficialiai siekdamas išlaikyti jėgų pusiausvyrą Lietuvoje, mėgino demonstruoti palankumą Sapiegoms. Vis dėlto pusiausvyros išlaikyti nepavyko. Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje prasidėjo ginkluota kova prieš Sapiegas. Vidaus kovos rezultatas buvo tas, kad, kilus Didžiajam Šiaurės karui, Sapiegos stojo į Švedijos karaliaus Karolio XII pusę. Respublikonai paramos tikėjosi ne tik iš sunkioje situacijoje atsidūrusio Augusto II, bet ir užmezgė ryšius su Rusijos caru Petru I. Švedijos karaliaus pralaimėjimo akivaizdoje Sapiegos buvo priversti ieškoti susitaikymo su Augustu II kelių ir būdų. Svarbi šios giminės pastangų susigrąžinti Abiejų Tautų Respublikos valdovo malonę dalis buvo dokumento, iš Sapiegų giminės pozicijų nušviečiančio įvykius Lietuvoje ir aiškinančio jų nelojalų elgesį, paskelbimas.

The aim of this article is to establish which events of greater historical impact and in what manner affected the community of the Lithuanian Friars Minor Conventual. The article attempts to uncover what historical events were noticed, how they were reflected and thus inscribed in the collective memory of the Conventual Franciscans based primarily, but not exclusively, in Vilnius. The principal object of this investigation is the Memoriale of the Friars Minor Conventual that began to be compiled in 1702 by fr. Antoni Gumowski and received its final shape at the hands fr. Antoni Niewiarowski in 1842. This manuscript is kept at the Lithuanian State Historical Archive (f. 1135, ap. 20, b. 669). It includes miscellaneous materials relating to the culture of memoria as was practiced at the convent of Vilnius. For the sake of comparison, the information contained in the necrologies of the Valkininkai convent has also been used. The idea is, that memorial books containing detailed biographies of famous friars broke out of the limits of being a strictly necrological commemoration and approached to chronicling contemporary events. The local collective identity of the Vilnius Friars Minor Conventual rested on the memory of the Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius (fourteenth century) and the first two bishops of Vilnius, who were Franciscan friars themselves: Andrzej Jastrzębiec (1388–1398) and Jakub Plichta (1398–1407). The description of events and the enumeration of the names of friars of the fifteenth sixteenth centuries indicate that all this data was transmitted through the mediation of written records and notes. The 1610 fire of Vilnius may be viewed as the oldest event inscribed in the living memory of the early eighteenth-century Franciscan community. Other events that became seared into their collective memory are the mid-seventeenth century Muscovite invasion, the Swedish occupation of Vilnius in 1702, the great pestilence of 1710, and the First Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. All these events of greater historical significance provided stimulus to produce a number of detailed descriptions of local events as lived through by the local Franciscan communities and individual friars. Their experiences range from a collective dislocation of communal life to the individual martyrdoms. The Vilnius Memoriale also describes events related to the Russian imperial policy in a matter-of-fact fashion, allowing a reader to draw conclusions as to the policy of interference, control and the eventual suppression of monastic communities and their convents.

The article deals with the issue of assignment and administration of public punishments by Kaunas Castle Court in the late eighteenth century. In the period under investigation, this court imposed capital and corporal punishments, punishments by imprisonment, removal from office and banishment from the city. Death penalty was imposed on those offenders who were accused of homicide, robbery and theft, although the court did not impose qualified methods of capital punishment. Out of corporal punishments, only flagellation (as the principal and ancillary punishment for crimes against life, health and property, never administered to the nobility) and branding (as an ancillary punishment for thieves) were inflicted. The number of imposed strokes ranged from 50 to 400, with the most common number being 100 strokes. During the analysed period, the main place of confinement continued to the so-called Tower (Upper and Lower) Prison. The Upper Tower Prison registry was dominated by relatively short sentences of 3, 6 and 12 weeks, mostly for violent acts (slaps in the face, forfeiture of real estate, assault with a combat weapon, assault on a nobleman’s house and estate). The Lower Tower Prison was used less frequently (as a punishment for beating a nobleman with a non-combat weapon, unlawful incarceration, and unproven criminal charge offence), but the sentences delivered were longer: from 12, 24 weeks to half a year. From 1782 onwards, instead of imposing the death penalty in cases like theft, robbery and homicide, the court began to give imprisonment sentences (fixed or indefinite) which were non-existent under the GDL law and thus had to be carried out in the Kamianets-Podilskyi prison.

In the late eighteenth century, the distance between the changing norms and values and the unchanging material conditions of priests’ everyday lives grew rapidly. The aim of this article is to explore and understand the life and work of the bishop of Livonia, Józef Kazimierz Kossakowski. He was the author of Ksiądz pleban [The Parson], one of the most acknowledged parenetic books promoting new social obligations of priests, however his actions were far from the ideals he promoted. His case is especially interesting because he also wrote a diary describing his life from the childhood to becoming a bishop.

Stanislovo Augusto valdymo laikų (1764–1795) emblematika literatūros tyrimuose laikoma epigonišku ir marginaliu reiškiniu. Šiame straipsnyje, pagrįstame plačia šaltinių (tarp jų – meninių projektų ir dekoracijų aprašymų) analize, mėginama apibrėžti emblematikos raiškos ribas ir funkcijas, jas susiejant su XVIII a. idėjinėmis permainomis, inspiruojančiomis vizualinės, taip pat ir simbolinės, kultūros pokyčius. Tuometinei emblematikai būdingas pagal retorikos taisykles kuriamų daugialypių programų atsisakymas, simbolių ir atributų vienaprasmiškumas, formų schemiškumas, klasikinių citatų ir epigramos vaidmens akcentavimas, mažinantis lemos reikšmę. Tai parodo simbolių tipų (emblemos, hieroglifiko, simbolio) terminologinio statuso pokyčius, nulemtus prancūziškų teorijų (tarp jų – klasicizmo, devizo, ikonologijos, epigramos teorijos). Paminklų ir šaltinių analizė leido konstatuoti, kad Apšvietos epochos emblematika dėl klasicizmo įtakos ir susidomėjimo Antika buvo svarbi ir reikšminga dvaro ir akademinėje aplinkoje. Senojoje kultūroje atsisakius įsitvirtinusių panegirikos ir heraldikos pagrindų, plito universalios moralinės, profesinės, valstybinės valdžios simbolika, pranašaudama modernią simbolio ir metaforos formulę bei šiuolaikinę „emblemos“ kaip sąvokos arba idėjos ženklo sampratą.

Analysis of the idea of natural order in the sermons of Mykolas Pranciškus Karpavičius (Michał Franciszek Karpowicz, 1744–1803) is presented in the article. M. P. Karpavičius in his sermons elucidated societal relations emphasising natural law. In his teachings social state was understood as an outcome of a divine organisation and meant that a human being – a social member of the society, with a gift of natural reason – has to make decisions that create his wellbeing. Such an explication where society is attributed to natural order was a main pillar upon which his political thought rested. It encompassed the goal of the upbringing of a rational and reasonable individual, which by itself connected aspects of both religious and secular life. M. P. Karpavičius’ sermons have to be understood in the context of physiocratic political tradition, which accentuated the preference of the nation through its natural rights and liberties which require the political contract in order to achieve security and safety of one’s property. Following the reasoning that social condition stems from the natural order, M. P. Karpavičius upheld the physiocratic ideals while naming the principles of authority. According to him, authority is needed to ensure security, prosperity and justice of the society. Being a Catholic enlightener he emphasised that the main task of any government, no matter its form, is to protect the natural rights. In its essence this argument remains physiocratic, emphasising the basic tenets of life, property and justice. Accentuating the natural order and Christian values, he taught that duties accepted as upheld laws are a continuation of the natural order and natural condition stemming from citizen’s obligations related to the established society. In the sphere of political thinking this allowed to emphasise the nobility’s obligations towards the body politic as an inherent part of their citizenship, and at the same time depreciate their political privileges. Out of the principles of the natural order consistently followed the concept of natural liberty, which allowed the implementation of the functions of natural right. This concept of liberty together with directions to uphold laws and societal duties directly influenced the understanding of noble liberty, because enlightened teaching encouraged to rethink its limits. M. P. Karpavičius emphasised differences between rational liberty and licence, explaining that reasonable liberty in the enlightened society has to be restricted. Natural liberty was understood as a liberty limited by the law ensuring political existence of the nation. The guarantee of such liberty assured the security of justice and law abiding citizens. Licence and anarchy were presented as opposition to the interests of the state and society leading the state to a demise. Antithesis to licence and anarchy relied on a simple argument of aspiration to have order in the state and was elucidated as rational liberty. Universal education was understood as an instrument in upbringing of the civil society, which understands the limits of its freedom and its duties. Meaning of such a concept of citizenship manifested itself as a rational reflection of the civic existence. It emphasised the principles of natural order and civic duties, criticised licence and established an idea of rational liberty. Supporting such a concept M. P. Karpavičius emphased citizenship as engagement towards the state and God. Such understanding was connected to the goals of state prosperity, was named love of motherland and was traced not to the noble heritage, but to duties stemming from the natural order. Being a citizen meant upholding one’s duties and in this way securing one’s life, liberty and prosperity. Civic relationship stemming from nature was understood as the only incentive needed in order to uphold the relationship itself.

Franciszek Ksawery Michał Bohusz (1746–1820) was a multifaceted, Jesuitshaped, wide-thinking personality. While growing-up and maturing in the Saxon period, Bohusz developed his public and intellectual life, as well as spiritual ministry, in the era of the Enlightenment. On the basis of historiography and primary sources the article analyses the development of the ecclesiastical career of Bohusz. It distinguishes and amply discusses the key stages of the ecclesiastical career of Bohusz: the novitiate, ministry of a parish priest, and membership in the chapter of Vilnius diocese. The article questions historiographic assertion that Bohusz was a prelate of the chapter of Vilnius diocese. The top level of the ecclesiastical career for Bohusz was becoming a coadjutor of cantor of prelate of the chapter of Vilnius diocese. This circumstance did not prevent either his contemporaries or Bohusz himself from actually using this title. Bohusz was not interested in a full-fledged office of prelate of the chapter of Vilnius diocese. The assumption here is that this was determined by Bohusz’s decision to favour secular ministry.